Welcome Navy Homes

The Navy should continue with its plans to build Navy housing on the northeast corner of Telegraph Canyon and Otay Lakes Road, despite protests by the residents in the neighborhood ("Navy Housing: Not Wanted in Neighborhood," April 21). Bowing to this pressure will only set precedence for other communities to follow.

There is a critical need of housing for military families here, and the fact is that the Navy already owns the land. Expensive real estate and high rents have led to some military families living in substandard housing or refusing to follow their mates when they have orders to this area.

Having lived in a house in that neighborhood, I can empathize with the residents' concern. I can still remember the outstanding view from my living room. Friends maintain that the land should be left as open space. Why, then, did the community not make plans for this years ago? Shall the government just give it to them? That would be government waste! Incidentally, the same sort of uproar was created years ago when there was a rumor that condominiums were going to be built there.

The site is convenient to military families. It only takes 15 minutes to travel to base facilities on 32nd Street. In fact, one need not take the freeway. A supermarket is at the bottom of the hill and a shopping center a mile away. Military families have been known to give their time and efforts for volunteer service.

Also, neighbors need not fear the sight of unkempt yards and young sailors partying all night. Residents of military housing have to follow a manual of rules and regulations ranging from the height of the grass on the lawn to proper behavior of residents. Regular inspections from the Housing Office are done to maintain compliance. Sailors E-4 and below are not eligible for family housing.

The new housing areas are attractive, as evident in areas like Puget Sound. The box-like structures the chairwoman referred to were built during the '40s and '50s.

It is time to put fears and prejudice aside. Please welcome them with open hearts and open minds. They are asking so little in return for protecting the freedom and liberty for which our forefathers have fought and which we continue to enjoy.